Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Isolation and Differentiation of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells from Porcine Subcutaneous Adipose Tissues
Published on: March 31, 2016
Accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by concentrate selecting ruminants
H H Meyer1, A Rowell, W J Streich
1Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Depot fat samples from ruminants of different feeding type and--for comparison--fat samples from simple-stomached animals were collected within 3 months. Individual fatty acid proportions, especially the relation of essential, polyunsaturated fatty acids to nonessential, saturated plus monounsaturated fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography. Species can be separated into two distinct groups: Depot fat of wild boar showed by far the highest content of essential fatty acids compared with all ruminant species. The subsequent inter-ruminant comparison yielded a further separation into two distinct groups related to feeding type. Roe deer and moose, constituting the first group of concentrate selectors, showed significantly higher percentages of polyunsaturated fatty acids than the other ruminant species comprised of the grass and roughage eaters or intermediates. The data document that the mode of feeding and/or the diet affects the body composition of the species investigated and that the depot fat composition of these ruminant species is markedly related to feeding type.
Related Concept Videos
Lipid Digestion
Structure of Lipids
Overview of Fatty Acid Metabolism
Fatty acids are catabolized in a process called beta-oxidation, which takes place in the matrix of the mitochondria and converts their fatty acid chains into two-carbon units of acetyl groups. The acetyl...
Fats as Energy Storage Molecules

